The use of variable air volume (VAV) devices in order to control the temperature and/or ventilation in large buildings is wide spread. Such HVAC systems typically have at least one, and sometimes a plurality of VAV devices located in the various spaces, rooms or offices within the building for control of the discharge of conditioned air into the offices. The air will be provided by a central source, and the volume air discharged into each office within the building will be varied in accordance with the control mechanism for the VAV device. Such VAV devices typically have a damper or set of blades, which is moved by an actuator so as to change the area of the opening from which conditioned air is discharged from the VAV device. VAV boxes most often are positioned upstream of a plurality of passive (damperless) air diffusers, while VAV diffusers include actuators and dampers at the structure discharging air into the space or office.
The control assembly for a VAV device will have one or more temperature set points which are used as a basis for regulating opening and closing of the damper by the actuator so as to drive the room temperature toward the set point. One set point may be used, for example, when the system is in a heating mode, while another may be used for a cooling mode. In some systems, however, the same temperature set point is used for heating and cooling.
In large office buildings, the HVAC system will be coupled to a plurality of thermostats located in the various offices or to a central building HVAC computer for monitoring and adjusting the set points for the VAV devices. In multiple thermostat systems, wiring must be run between individual VAV devices and the thermostats. In central computer systems, the computer is coupled through an HVAC building computer network that is coupled to the VAV devices. The central building control computer, therefore, can be used to monitor and adjust the set point temperatures of the various actuators in the VAV devices for individual offices.
One of the major disadvantages of thermostat-based systems is the wiring required during installation, which can be tricky in open office environments having free-standing work stations and space-dividing partition systems. A major disadvantage of building-wide HVAC computer monitoring systems is that the temperature set point adjustments must be made from a central monitoring station. Thus, the occupants of the individual offices in the building are not able to provide direct input as to the desired temperature set point for the VAV device effecting their office. Instead, occupants typically communicate with the building central monitoring and adjustment computer by telephone so as to make their wishes known with respect to environmental demands in their office. Often temperature set point changes are made by the occupants of offices without knowing what the room air temperature in their office actually is at the time of the set point change. This can lead to unneeded changes.
In newer office buildings the central monitoring station can also be coupled and configured to control the operation of other environmental control devices, such as, humidifiers, lighting and "white" noise or noise cancellation devices. Again, communications between individual offices and the central monitoring/controlling computer make use of such systems less than optimal.
It would be highly desirable, therefore, to have an environmental control system suitable for large buildings in which the individual environmental control devices are capable of having their operating parameters set independently directly by occupants of the offices. Moreover, the changes most preferably would be made by an occupant having knowledge as to the current conditions of his or her office and would be made through a method other than using telephone communications or wall-mounted thermostats, in the case of HVAC systems. Thus, the occupants, who know best what environmental conditions are most suited for their office at any given time, and knows what the current conditions are, would like to have a way of adjusting the environmental control devices in their space without having to communicate with a central monitoring operator, and without having to go to a wall-mounted controller, such as a thermostat.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus for individual adjustment of the operating parameters of an environmental control device located in an occupant's office without affecting other offices and without using a wall-mounted controller or having to communicate by telephone to a person at a central computer.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means for the occupant of a space in the building to easily determine the current room air temperature and to adjust the temperature set points of a VAV device discharging air into his or her space using computer equipment commonly available, such as personal computers, cell telephones and a global computer network (the Internet).
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a VAV device adjustment system which is easy to install, is user-friendly, is relatively low in cost and provides a wide range of user flexibility.
The process and apparatus of the present invention have other objects and features of advantage which will become more apparent from, and are set forth in more detail in, the following Description of the Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention and the accompanying drawings.